Now that the update has been out for a while, what do you folks think of it?

I've found I like most of it. There are some aspects of it that are something I've really come to dislike, such as:

I really hate the megaserver part of it as gathering and guild/group events are a pain to get people on the same version of the map. I wouldn't mind the gathering aspect so much if I could consistently get into to the same megaserver but when you log into four different characters and each one gets a new megaserver, gathering takes way longer than it should as you have to search for the nodes every time.

Map chat has become horrible with the internet philosophers, the trolls and the truly moronic chat. I've had to create a chat channel now where I filter out most chat as I really don't want to listen to a debate about why some bodily functions feel good and which ones feel better in map chat (true story, it was going on, I had to shut down map chat). I normally like to keep map chat on as I don't mind people that have a question and aren't trying to troll.

The wardrobe system is nice though I don't like the change to sub-80 characters as the cost to keep a look from creation to 80 has now tripled. I do like that I don't have to store all the various skins now and the ability to swap as mood desires is nice as well. The increase in bank space since I've put all the various back piece skins and helms in the wardrobe is nice and the fact that I don't have to decide which character is going to get any particular piece is a very welcome addition to the game.

The interface for the wardrobe system is a bit clunky as the only time you can see certain items is when the equipment tab is highlighted and I'd rather have it that all equipment, trinkets and gathering tools showed at all times for easy reference.

The new trait system is great for level 80's as changing traits is so much easier now and allows you greater experimentation, however, leveling a sub-80 character is so much more a pain as the later trait acquisition is really horrible for leveling. I've not leveled a character created after the patch yet beyond level 10 so I haven't seen how the new trait acquisition works on a new character. The ones I have leveled were created before the patch.

The new pvp reward tracks are not bad though I have to disagree with ANET's idea of a reward. When I get the veteran/champion loot bags/boxes, etc I understand I'm going to get blues and greens with the chance at a rare. What I don't understand is the "rewarding" of junk items such as hooves, porous bones, etc. from these boxes. Getting a consumable "rock" is such an insult. A one time use "rock"? C'mon ANET you can do better. The rest of the reward tracks are nice and the final stage of the Balthazar track you were given lodestones which is a nice change. The back item wasn't the best and looks better on certain characters as the hunch of the charr distorts the graphic a bit.

Only having 5 man arena spvp matches is another change that while I've adjusted to, I don't like. With an 8 man arena having a newcomer on your team was fine as you could cover for them. The 5 man arenas make this much harder to do now. The constant 5v4 is hard to work with as well as 7v8 was doable, 5v4 is a lot harder.

The dye system is great and I really like that change. Having account bound dyes is sooo nice compared to the old system. No longer is it a choice of which character gets a color. The lack of dye from gathering nodes is a part I don't like though. I used to gather the plants all the time just for the off chance of a dye, now it feels like it's a chore to gather the nodes. I wish they'd add back the dye from the plant nodes, even if it was at a lesser chance than before.

I really like the WXP change to account bound. Having reached rank 700+ it's really nice to be able to max out a number of categories on each character and still have points to spend on the various siege mastery's. Maxed mortar fire on a necro is nasty with the burn duration and damage.

Overall I like the update except for the megaserver part of it. I wish they'd just go to districts like in gw1 or remove it from the cities. The rest of the update I've come to enjoy though there are certain minor things I'd like to see changed.

I find I like the mega server in general whilst simply playing PvE as it appears that there is always someone around doing an event. However I have not had to arrange groups so I have no idea about that.

All in all good as far as I am concerned. I am back to my 1 hour play time so there is very little I can do but complete dailies and level a character. So it worked out well for me.